Migos Memoirs Served Up On Y.R.N

For any young rapper the ever elusive debut album marks a huge milestone, recognition that in one way or another they have finally made it. However for the eccentric Atlanta trio Migos, success isn’t anything that’s new to them. In the last four years they’ve released 11 album length mixtapes, and extended their national success beyond borders and set out on a world conquering movement, touring across Europe.

With an uncontainable and extraterrestrial flow which is completely of their own creation, Migos have the luxury of running wild in a lane occupied by no one else but themselves. So we arrive at Y.R.N (Yung Rich Nation) Migos’s debut major release through 300 Entertainment. For a trio in which the possibilities seem endless we are treated to a victory lap, and it’s a parade you can’t help but celebrate.

The album opens with ‘Memoirs’ which serves as a walk down memory lane as Quavo, Offset and Takeoff individually take us through the antics of their youth. Whether it was about them getting kicked out of school or the first time they got each other high, it’s clear they aren’t a group but a family. It’s a wild and yet endearing story of how these three family members ran havoc on the Atlanta streets and came out the other side together victorious. The album continues in similar fashion with ‘Migos Origin’ cementing the Migos ideology. “You want the origin of the flow, you better shut the fuck up And listen up, to what the Migos bout to cook up.” The always witty and sharp Migos movement is in full effect on Y.R.N and so is the sense of belonging that comes with it.

Although enjoyable as ever, there is certainly a sense of familiarity present throughout Y.R.N. You can’t help but be in search for something more, but you’ll never complain about not getting enough absurd ad-libs or choruses that’ll stick in your head for the next month. Production is as bouncy and off-centre as always, yet still infectious. It’s on tracks such as ‘Playa Playa’ and ‘Trap Funk’ where themes that we have become accustomed too are revisited yet again. This isn’t to say no new statements are made, in fact there are some quite bold ones. The infamous “They sayin’ Migos are better than the Beatles” is addressed and the trio even stake their claim for the crown of ‘Gangsta Rap’ by announcing “Gangsta Rap is back.”

As Takeoff raps “Tryna turn the mansion to a castle” you know they will but maybe not just yet. The heights that Migos have reached are on full show throughout Y.R.N but they aren’t surpassed. Enjoyable as ever the album serves as yet another success for Migos, and they can continue to dictate a landscape run by themselves, but we may just have to wait a little longer to see them push through it.